Hockey Ad Network

Friday, November 4, 2011

In regards to the recent hazing allegations towards the Neepawa Natives, the players of the Natives would like to apologize to the players involved in the incident, our community, the organization, coaching staff, sponsors, loyal fans and all who have supported the program that has given so many players the opportunity to play Junior A hockey in a well established league. An apology addressed toward the acts that took place within our dressing room. We would like to make it clear that the events that had taken place had no malicious intent and, in no way, were aimed to harm or ridicule any player on our team.

First and foremost, no player was forced or threatened to take part in anything they were not comfortable doing, this was and remains a team policy from the start of the season. The victims of the incident participated in the events that took place in the month of September on their own will and were not pressured in any way by any member of the team. We are truly sorry for allowing this kind of immature behavior to happen in our dressing room.

The acts that took place in our dressing room were simply a part of rookie initiations, and at the time, the team deemed them as harmless fun. However, now that we have put a great amount of thought into this, we realize that our actions were extremely inappropriate and unnecessary. We deeply regret partaking in such behavior, but most importantly, letting our actions affect so many people around us in a negative way.

We, the Neepawa Natives, ask for forgiveness for our mistakes and a chance to move on and play the game we are all so truly passionate about.